US stocks ended little changed on Thursday as equity markets around the world capped their best monthly gain in years after fresh US economic data kindled hopes that a deep recession is almost over. US government bond prices were steady as the perception that the longest recession since the Depression may end by late summer took greater hold, despite automakers Chrysler filing for bankruptcy. While Chrysler's bankruptcy filing saw US stocks give back gains seen earlier in the day, it also signaled that US President Barack Obama is prepared to play hardball with holdout lenders to protect the taxpayer. The benchmark S&P 500 Index posted its best monthly gain by percentage point since March 2000, while MSCI's all-countries world index climbed to it's best monthly performance in more than a decade. The S&P 500 is up 29 percent from the bear-market closing low set on March 9. For the session, the Dow Jones industrial average DJI fell 17.61 points, or 0.22 percent, to 8,168.12 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.83 of a point, or 0.09 percent, to 872.81. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.36 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,717.30. “I don't think anybody's surprised. Bankruptcy is what they have been headed for in the past several months. Chrysler was too small to survive on its own,” said Mirko Mikelic, a portfolio manager at Fifth Third bank. Investors in competing automakers reacted positively to the news, sending GM shares up 6.1 percent and Ford Motor Co up 9.7 percent. Investors shrugged off a WHO warning that a flu pandemic was imminent, and analysts said the health crisis might pass without any significant economic impact.
